Is it possible to make word games fresh? Yes . . . almost. Word Forward is a slightly new twist in that your goal is to lower the score. You start with a full grid of letters, each with their own score value (a la Words with Friends). Your aim is to join matching letters to make words of at least three letters. When you make a word, its letters disappear from the board. It's like Scrabble in reverse, crossed with a multi-directional word search. It's surprisingly gratifying to push for a perfect score of zero. There are limited extras you can use, such as letter swaps, destroying letters or shuffling. You can play against friends online or in solo games, and it has an attractive, minimalist presentation with white as its main colour. Word Forward is free to play, with ads, encouragements to share it with friends, and micro-transactions, but nothing too interruptive. appynation.com